Oh moon, you don’t play fair.Rising later and later each night like this,and each night more unbelievablyfull of light. Later and later I wait for you,studying the undersides of leaves,holding my breath, testing the strength of my will.When in the dew and the depth of midnightyour other lovers float out from behind treesand between shadows, I invite them to lounge at my sidein the wet grass and wait for you.We wait for you together,breathing mist, sipping the dark with our open eyes.

The recent news has been so full of the current astrological symbolism, it’s hard for a poor astrologer to keep up. In tech news (Uranus rules computers and hi-tech) we have the NASDAQ sell-off, and the Heartbleed bug — which may not be entirely unrelated. In the “yet more insane, horrifying violence” sort of news, we have the shooting at Fort Hood, and the stabbings at a PA school, both involving heroic actions by women. Also, this. I suggested the likelihood of "notable actions of a woman or group of women" happening this month in my post on the Aries New Moon.

The New Moon eclipse coming up on November 3rd is profound and transformative. The effects of a solar eclipse are more far-reaching and longer lasting than a regular New Moon, beginning a month or so before the actual event, and lasting for up to 18 months. This one will have us digging deeply into our psyches or projecting our shadows for some time to come. As I mentioned in my last post, there is an ongoing gathering of planets in Scorpio, the sign of transformation and secrets, sex and death, power and wealth, and they are all tied into the dramatic and revolutionary Uranus-Pluto square. The eclipse chart takes a picture right at the height of this wild party. There are some observations and cautions to be drawn from the chart from a national point of view — when cast for Washington, DC, the chart has the Scorpio stellium in the twelfth house, with Mars and Neptune in a wide opposition across the MC/IC axis — and I’ll discuss those, but the chart also offers considerable insight on a more personal level.

One of the first things that jumps out of this chart is a complete lack of planets in Air, and a considerable emphasis on Water. Mercury is also retrograde, and in a Water sign. This subdues communication, information exchange, and the open and rational discussion of ideas, while giving free rein to the expression of emotion and the imposition of material authority through the close cooperation of the three authoritarian planets, Mars, Saturn and Pluto. Saturn and Pluto relate to karmic issues in a chart, as does the sign of Scorpio, which is ruled by Mars and Pluto. A lot of us are going to be looking at karmic issues coming home to roost, and struggles on an emotional level that can be exhausting because they are rooted in childhood or past life experiences. We may feel like we’ve been thrown overboard into the waters of deep feeling, and can’t find an island of logic and perspective on which to rest.

There are two interesting lunations (New or Full Moon) coming up in October that can give us some insight on the month ahead — the New Moon on October 4 — and on the upcoming 6 months or so in the case of the Full Moon on October 18, which is an eclipse.

Let’s start with the New Moon. These are some of the configurations astrologers will want to take note of (here is the chart): Cluster of planets in the sixth house, 3 planets in Scorpio including a Mercury-North Node-Saturn conjunction. Venus rules the chart from her throne on the Descendant in a house she rules, but in detriment and tensely aspected. It’s a Libra New Moon, so we are looking for balance, and there is little to be found, with the Moon/Sun tightly configured with the Uranus-Pluto square. Mars is square the AS/DS axis and Venus, and in tight aspect (SSQ) to both Uranus and Pluto.

What to make of all this? From the point of view of mundane astrology, things look a bit tense. (I should note here that individual humans can use the energy of the planetary patterns to change themselves and their lives. Hence, individual reactions to a lunation are more likely to be positive and less “fated” than events in the nations and large groups that are the subject of mundane astrology. My fellow blogger here at Pagan Square, Kate Cartwright, has written about how best to use the personal aspects of this lunation here) This chart is cast for Washington, DC, so it is predictive for the entire country.

First, of course, we’ll look at the Sun and Moon, which are activating the ongoing Uranus-Pluto square (UPS). This means that surprises, transformations, explosive (physically or emotionally) events, and powerful breakthroughs are all likely. It’s probable that many of these manifestations will be in the realm of relationship, particularly, from a national point of view, the relationship of the people of the country to its leaders.

On April 25th, there will be a partial lunar eclipse. Both New and Full Moons are used for prediction in astrology, and their influence is considered to extend until the next New Moon. Eclipses (which always happen at either a New (solar) or Full (lunar) Moon) have a far longer influence — 6 months to a year. (I’m going to get into some fairly detailed astrology in the first part of this post, so if you just want my conclusions about how this eclipse will play out in the USA, scan down the article for the text in bold.)

Eclipses are used for prediction in a couple of ways:

We can cast the chart of the actual event for a particular place — where one is living, or the capital of a country, for instance — and interpret the chart as it stands, with its own angles and houses.

We can also take that chart and arrange it around the wheel of another chart, such as one’s natal chart, or the chart of a country. This is known as a bi-wheel, and the natal chart is put in the center, using natal angles and house divisions.

For this upcoming eclipse, you will find the chart of the event, cast for Washington, DC, here, and the bi-wheel here, if you want to follow along with my interpretation.

The first thing we’ll look at is the Sun and Moon — the eclipse itself. Here, the Moon is in Scorpio, in the 2nd house and the Sun in Taurus in the 8th (remember that house positions are specific to the place for which the chart was cast — in this case, Washington, DC., which makes this chart relevant for the entire country. The planetary signs and aspects are relevant globally) Immediately, we also see Mars in close conjunction with the Sun, and Saturn conjunct the Moon (a conjunction with Sun or Moon, of course, means an opposition with the other light at a Full Moon). This means both Mars and Saturn, in opposition to each other, can be considered “rulers” of the eclipse. Ack! This is not a happy placement. “Cruelty” is the first word that comes to mind when Mars and Saturn are in tense aspect with each other, especially in Taurus/Scorpio.

You may have noticed that this week’s post is a little late, or maybe next week’s is a bit early, depending on how much writing I get done the rest of this week. :-) My personal Mercury retrograde incident happened as that planet entered its shadow, conjuncting my Mars, and I’ve been recovering from some first-world trauma in the form of an unexpected computer failure — and the backup drive failed at the same time. Yeah, I didn’t think that would ever happen, either. All is well now, and the new computer is a jewel, but I’m still catching up. And speaking of the new computer, I want to give a shout-out to the good folks at Matrix Software. I’ve been using their astrology programs since the pre-Windows days of DOS, and their customer support has always been exceptionally good. They were a big help this time when I ran into some questions about my new setup. I use their WinStar Pro software, but they have excellent, less expensive options as well. Find them here.

November's New Moon falls on Tuesday the 13th, at 22 degrees of Scorpio, and a solar eclipse happens a few minutes later. Like any New Moon, this one will indicate the planetary energies in play for the month ahead, but the influence of eclipses tends to last for several months, and this one will be particularly noticeable in the lives of people (or countries, or businesses, etc.) who have personal planets or angles in their natal chart at between 19 degrees and 25 degrees of any of the fixed signs (Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus, Leo).